


From Chaos Born

by divinecrone



Series: A Path Less Travelled [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Betrayal, Cosmic Entities, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Not Thor: The Dark World (Movie) Compliant, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Shapeshifting, Time Travel, Unreliable Narrator, post-Captain America: Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 04:56:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12741414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divinecrone/pseuds/divinecrone
Summary: Death may be the ultimate equalizer, but that doesn’t mean She won’t stack the deck in Her favor.*** If you are reading this beforeBreeding Chaos, please be aware that there aremajorspoilers. The basis for the entire AU divergence, in fact. ***I’m trying to build the reveal of Loptr’s parents naturally, so that it’s at least somewhat obvious in retrospect. If you want your chance to guess, don’t readFrom Chaos Bornuntil you’ve finished reading Chapter 9 ofBreeding Chaos.





	From Chaos Born

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are reading this before _Breeding Chaos_ , please be aware that there are **major** spoilers. If you’re not the type to peek at the ending, I’ll let you know in the chapter summaries when it’s safe to look.
> 
> Chaos and Death make a deal: my merchant for your god.
> 
> The title of this chapter can be taken either way: cheating Death of a soul or Death cheats to get Her way. Both rather fit.

The cosmic entities stood above the convulsing form of Loki, God of Mischief and Chaos, sometimes God of Lies and God of Fire.

Chaos had been pulled through reality by the god's dying wish: ' **Freedom. I will give everything if only you will set me free**.' Death had come to collect the trickster's soul, but something was holding her back.

'It's not like you to hesitate, my Lady.' Death didn't reply, she rarely spoke, even to her brethren. Perhaps it was because even manifestations of reality were somewhat uneasy around Her. At the end of Time, She would collect all of them before She, too, expired. Hers would be the last breath, the one that travelled through the end of everything and revived Eternity to start the cycle again.

Chaos watched and waited. Loki was a particular favorite of his. He was subtler than the average trickster, his efforts much further reaching because of it. Chaos was never so well-fed as he was when he looked in on Loki, but he wasn't going to step in front of Death for him. Especially when she had made no move to collect Loki's spirit from her twin, Eternity.

Loki screamed again, cursing the universe as a whole, demanding release from the prison that had driven him beyond madness. Death stepped closer, but Her hands remained firmly tucked into Her robes. Her hood tilted, as if something puzzled Her.

Chaos watched as Loki's aura began to unravel from the sheer pressure of the magic he had summoned. No matter what happened now, there would be a reality storm of cataclysmic proportions. He had just begun to turn, hoping to catch the beginnings of the storm, when She whispered, 'There.'

Startled, Chaos shifted through several forms before settling back into his current favorite and drifting closer. A red thread had appeared in the bursting colors around Loki, the heart thread tied between souls by the Fates. It shivered but remained stubbornly intact even as blood ran from Loki's eyes and mouth. It was difficult to follow the twisting thread through the maelstrom, but Chaos followed it round and through until he came face-to-face with Death.

He froze. _Surely the fates had not given one of his gods, his_ favorite _, as a consort to Death_.

Death slowly drew one hand from her robes. The red thread shivered and twisted in her sleeve until she revealed a small milky white orb dangling from a chain wrapped round the bones of her hand.

'Who was this?' he inquired softly, shifting to the side. _It would seem the Fates are playing games again. I wonder who crossed them_.

A familiar face appeared inside the orb. A mortal he had visited many times, an almost perfect manifestation of chaos. His twin, Order, had accused Chaos of tampering with the mortal, but this man was true, purely a being of his own creation. Chaos tabbed on the orb, shaking memories loose, until he found one that resonated with Her. 'Merchant of Death.'

He frowned at the red thread twisting between collected soul and dying god. 'Why isn't it fraying? Even this close, the thread shouldn't be so… vibrant.' He reached out to touch and jolted back. 'Resonance. That isn't possible, they barely even met, spoke a handful of words to one another. If they resonated nothing could have kept them separated once they touched.'

He turned to stare at Loki, frozen mid-scream as the reality storm tore apart the pocket dimension that had been his prison. 'Someone has interfered in the weave, torn them both from the fabric of life, but somehow failed to cut this thread.'

Death drifted through the storm, scenes of what could have been, what had been, and what would never be, winking in and out around Her. The chain unwrapped itself from Her hand until the end could begin to twist around Loki. From head to toe, the chain coiled around the trickster until the white orb was nestled against his heart. For the first time in centuries, peace settled into Loki's features.

'Why do you hesitate?' he asked again. She tugged at a section of chain winding around Loki's head. A frown briefly creased his face as a memory slipped free. 'The Mad Titan. The mind stone.’

Next, she tapped on the orb. Another memory slipped free. 'A golem driven insane. The mind stone.' Bone fingers pointed again, so he pulled the memories closer. They twisted away together, vanishing into the escalating storm. How unusual, that only happened when-- 'Thanos altered both of their fates with at least one infinity gem and was the ultimate force pushing for their deaths. Did he do it to punish you for ignoring him?'

A hiss echoed through the storm. Chaos swallowed and raised his hands. 'What do you intend to do about it? How can you change this? You are the only one of us who cannot enter Time to preserve your chosen.'

Pale lips smirked beneath Her cowl. 'Oh, you intend for me to…’ Chaos looked down at the two souls wrapped together. ‘But he's hardly that pivotal…’ He crossed his arms, limbs, twisted to express his unease. ‘Reality won't allow…'

Death pulled forth another memory. **Betrayal. A fight. _He's my friend. So was I_. Shears cutting a life thread, except those were not the hand that should be wielding them**.

Grim certainty began to settle upon Chaos. 'What should he have done before returning to you?'

Death tapped Loki's wrist and the Infinity Gauntlet faded into being on the god's hand. 'But he… The Gauntlet? How?!' A mortal, no matter how exceptional, should not have been able to fully control the bare Gauntlet, let alone filled with the Infinity Gems as it was here. Except... Chaos slithered closer, flicking out a forked tongue to taste. This Gauntlet was different than the last one he’d seen, sleeker and more dangerous, it could operate with any combination of the gems. 'He made a new Infinity Gauntlet. Are you sure he’s actually a mortal?’

In response, She pulled a spinning orb of blue and green from the storm. It burst open to reveal a rapid series of scenes: **Thanos reentering the Nine Realms that had evicted him. Trampling the heroes of each realm, beginning with the gateway, Midgard. Only ash and ruin left behind. Finally, he steps into the throne room of Asgard and Odin Borson kneels, presenting Gungnir**.

Chaos hissed, eyes burning with rage. 'This cannot be. He was locked out, the keys deliberately lost.' The red thread pulsed and twisted into the shape of an ornate key before sinking back into the milky white orb. 'Oh.'

He bowed his head, resigned. 'What would you have me do, Lady?'

Chill words echoed in his chest and grave dust coated his tongue. 'Save them both. Your god for my merchant.'

He pressed clawed fingers to rippling water before smoothing down scales and fur. He hated to be near Death when she was angry. Not only was it bad for his continued health, she always chose the most direct and unsettling ways to communicate. 'Anything for you, Sister.'

She nodded once before fading from view. Chaos reached his many limbs into the keys, twining their essence tighter and tighter together until their mingled souls slowly began spinning. In this moment, suspended between Death and Eternity, Chaos reigned. Here, he could unmake or create anything, a child of Fate-matched souls infused with a shard of Chaos was nearly inevitable in its simplicity. He whispered one last command to his little godling before diving into their vortex pulling the bulk of the reality storm in after him. The explosion of energy catapulted a glowing orb sheltering two bodies into the Nine Realms. 


End file.
